


Loose Ends

by sherbertglasses



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Patrick Troughton - Freeform, Reunions, Second Doctor Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-18
Updated: 2012-09-04
Packaged: 2017-10-31 08:47:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/342160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherbertglasses/pseuds/sherbertglasses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor reunites with one of his oldest friends, but there's some unscheduled history happening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Doctor knocked. He didn’t have to wait very long before the door was opened. “Happy anniversary!” he shouted to Amy.

She smiled, “How did you know?”

The Doctor looked affronted. “I was at your wedding! What do you mean ‘how did I know’?”

“Did River tell you?”

“Yes,” he admitted. “She said she got you tickets to Venice last year, because that was your first trip in the TARDIS together.”

“That was two years ago.”

“Yes, but I can do her one better! I’m going to take you to Astaria! The most beautiful pleasure planet there is. Beaches, spas with those little…cucumbers,” he gestured to his eyes. “How’s that for a third anniversary?”

“It’s our fifth,” she teased.

“Yes, well, even better.”

“Doctor!” Rory came to the door. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Rory!” the Doctor hugged him. “I was just telling your wife that I’m going to take you to the best resort and spa in the universe.”

“That’s wonderful. But…it is our anniversary, so…”

“Don’t worry,” he assured. “I won’t intrude. I’m just dropping you off. I’ll pick you up in a week.”

“Great!”

“Go on,” said the Doctor. “Pack a bag.”

“Right,” Rory headed upstairs.

Amy smiled. “You’re sweet,” She kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.” Then she headed upstairs to help Rory.

 

“So, this Astara…”

“Astaria,” the Doctor corrected. They were in flight on the TARDIS.

“What’s it like?” asked Amy.

“Gorgeous!” said the Doctor as the TARDIS landed. He continued as he headed for the doors, “All the foliage is deep blue and phosphorescent at the tips,” He opened the doors and stepped out, Amy and Rory followed. “The whole place just…glows.” He finished lamely as he realized.

Amy snickered. “Looks a lot like Scotland.”

“Yeah,” said Rory. “Less of a glow, more of a gray.”

“Well…. It could still be romantic. Foggy is romantic, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know how River puts up with you,” said Amy, shaking her head. “C’mon,” she said, grabbing Rory’s hand. “Let’s go and find out what year it is!”

As they walked across the moor they noticed objects – debris – lying all around. Rory stumbled and looked down. “Doctor, is that a bayonet?”

The Doctor looked somberly down at it. Looking up again he could see a canon atop a hill.

“Is this a battlefield?” asked Amy.

“Yes. And I think I know which one.” He suddenly ran ahead of them and they hurried to follow.

If this is a battlefield, thought Amy, where are all the bodies? She and Rory struggled to keep up with the Doctor as he ran full speed, like he does, towards a township over the hill. As they arrived Amy found out where the bodies were. There were carts of them and neat piles and lines on the ground. Over a thousand bodies. The Doctor didn’t stop running until he reached a table set up amidst the carnage where a man was writing something up with a quill. “That moor we just crossed,” he said to the man, “Was that Culloden?”

“Course it was! What’re you on about?” he said in a thick brogue.

“I need to see the list of the dead,” demanded the Doctor.

“It’s only a day and a half since the battle! I’ve not written it up yet. Anyway, what do you care, Englishman?”

The Doctor suddenly got very severe. He leaned over the table and said. “My friend, my very dear, very Scottish friend was in that battle. Now let me see the list you have so far!”

“Very well.” He handed the doctor a stack of parchment.

Amy thought, as she watched him scan the list, about how little he spoke of his previous companions. She knew there had been many before her and Rory. The TARDIS even showed her pictures of a few of them. She wondered who it was he was looking for now. How long ago did he travel with them? He obviously cared deeply for whoever it was. She wondered how it was that a man could live that long, love that many people, lose that many people, and see all he had, and still find it so easy to care so much. Maybe that’s why he had two hearts. To hold all the love he had for the universe. Suddenly he smiled in relief.

“He’s not there.”

“I’ve written up less than half of the deceased,” said the man at the table somberly. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

“Who me?” said the Doctor, suddenly much lighter. “I always get my hopes up. That’s what hope is for!”

“Who are you looking for?” asked Rory.

“A very old friend,” he said, and he set off again. “Jamie!” he called. “Does anyone know a Jamie McCrimmon?” He ran through the village asking people.

“Aye, I know Jamie!” a young woman called out.

The Doctor ran over to her. “You do? Where-Oh! I know you! Christy? No- Kirsty!”

“Aye, that’s me,” she said. “Kirsty McClaren. But who are you, Englishman?”

“Oh, Kirsty, don’t be so distrustful! A couple of days ago an Englishman helped you save your father.”

“Aye, the Doctor! And Polly. Are you a friend of theirs?”

“…You could say that.”

“May I ask your name, sir?”

The Doctor faltered. “Ah. You see… That’s where you might not believe me. I’m… the Doctor too.”

“Why would I not believe you, sir?”

“You do?”

“Of course! A doctor like him must have colleagues, and he never told me his name. Did you think I thought there was only one doctor in the world, sir? We’re a small village, but we’re not that backward.”

The Doctor laughed. “Of course! How stupid of me! I meant no disrespect.”

“Why are you looking for Jamie?”

“Well…the other Doctor sent me to make sure he was alright. That you were all alright. That you made it through the battle.”

“Jamie is fine,” she said, and the Doctor visibly relaxed. “He’s one of the lucky ones,” she added.

“Where is he?” the Doctor asked.

“He’s staying in that cottage on the end.” She pointed to it.

“Thank you.” The Doctor turned to Amy and Rory. “Amy, Rory, I’d like to me one of my oldest and best friends. Come on!”

The Doctor stood at the door for a moment when they arrived at the cottage. It had been over a millennium since he’d last seen Jamie, and the Time Lord High Council had taken away all memories of their adventures together save their first. For the Doctor that was over a thousand years ago, but for Jamie it was just two days. He gathered up his courage and knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?”

Just the sound of his voice hit the Doctor a lot harder than he thought it would. He took a deep breath and opened the door. “A friend,” he answered.

Jamie looked up at him from his cot and at the sight of him, the Doctor’s hearts swelled so much he thought he might cry. “Hello Jamie.”

“Who are you?” he asked, and the question hurt more than it should have.

“I’m… I’m, um-“

“Are you a friend of the Doctor’s?”

The Doctor was gobsmacked. “How…? How did you know?”

“Well, you’ve got the same funny sort of tie and those garter things to hold your trousers up. Besides, you’re English and you don’t seem to want to kill me.”

The Doctor smiled proudly. “You were always so clever. Oh! Where are my manners? This is Amy and Rory.”

“Hi,” said Rory.

“Hello,” said Amy, coming over to shake Jamie’s hand. “It’s so nice to meet one of the Doctor’s old friends.”

“Oh, a fellow Scot!” Jamie got up and shook her hand vigorously. “So, did the Doctor send you? I can’t remember if I said goodbye to him, Ben, and Polly or not.”

“This is him,” said Rory. “This is the Doctor. I know it can be a bit confusing. It’s called regeneration. I tell you, it was pretty scary when I watch my own daughter do it.”

“What are you talking about? Talk sense, man.”

“Doctor, didn’t you tell him about regeneration?” asked Amy.

“Ben and Polly did, yes. Helped ease the acceptance when he ran into a later version of me. But he doesn’t remember any of that. Do you, Jamie?”

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” said the Doctor gently as he approached him. “It’s too soon after your return for you to be having dreams about me. Too much on your mind. PTSD settling into the corners of your psyche to be triggered at a later date.” He put his hand to Jamie’s face. “But I imagine, at least I hope, that your mind has had time to wander to thoughts of the funny little man who helped save you from the slave traders.”

“I-I don’t know who you are,” Jamie sounded like he almost didn’t believe that.

“You will in a minute.” He put his other hand to Jamie’s face and slid his fingers to his temples.

Jamie’s heart was beating a mile a minute. He didn’t know what was going on, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop it. He felt a presence in his mind gentle and reassuring, asking for permission to unlock something. Unlock what? There was a sudden flash of things he couldn’t quite grasp. The Doctor’s face, metal men, Ben, Polly, two other girls, and then the Doctor’s face again. That warm, slightly jowly smile, and then so many feelings flooded through him. Joy, fear, exhilaration, and love, so much love, and suddenly he remembered. He remembered everything! He was standing in the cottage again, this new man’s hands coming away from his face. “Doctor?”

“Hello again.” He smiled.

“Is it really you?!” Jamie grasped his arms.

The Doctor laughed at the familiar cling. “It is. It really is.”

“Uh… what just happened?” asked Rory.

Suddenly there was cannon fire outside. “That’s not supposed to happen,” said the Doctor ominously.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor ran outside followed by his friends. The man who’d been writing up the list of the dead ran towards them.

“What happened?” asked the Doctor.

“We’re being attacked!”

“But, the rest of the Redcoats should be in Inverness by now,” said the Doctor.

“Aye,” answered the man, “That’s where they will have followed the rest of the Highland brigade to.”

“Yes. Why didn’t you go with them?”

“Some were too wounded to make the journey. Besides, someone had to collect the bodies for proper burial.”

“Right. What’s your name, incidentally?”

“Henry, sir. Of the MacGregor clan.”

“Thank you, Henry. I’m the Doctor. Is there anywhere the wounded can hold up?”

“I’ve instructed the women and the wounded to head for the barn a quarter mile south of the village.”

“Why are they attacking?” asked Jamie. “The battle’s over! We retreated! They decimated us! Isn’t that enough?!”

“I don’t know, Jamie,” said Henry. “One more thing. I hadn’t told the men yet, but I received word this morning. The prince has ordered us to disband. The rebellion is over. We lost.”

Another cannonball fired and two cottages at the front of the village fell. “Well, the rebellion’s not over for somebody,” said Rory.

“Alright, boys,” said Amy. “Let’s be Scottish about this. Every able-bodied man and woman should stand their ground.”

“I’ve already ordered it, miss, for the men at least.” said Henry, taken aback. “Who’re you to be giving orders?”

“Amy Pond,” she said defiantly, and added, taking Rory’s hand, “And it’s missus.”

“Trust me,” said Rory. “If there’s a fight to be won, you’ll want her on your side.”

“Too right,” said the Doctor with a proud smile. “Now, let’s see what they want.” He headed for the edge of the village.

“Are you crazy?” cried Henry. “They’ll blow you away! Wait until we can see them. You aren’t even armed!”

“No, I never am,” the Doctor replied. “And I know we’ll be seeing them in just a moment, because unless they’ve had time to drag a new cannon and extra ammunition across the moor in the short time we’ve been here, they are using the cannon on the top of that little hill I crossed coming in, which had only one cannonball sitting next to it, and they fired two shots, which means there was one in the barrel, which means that that was their last shot.”

“Impressive,” said Henry.

“I know,” said Jamie smiling.

“He’s always like that,” said Amy feigning apathy.

They reached the edge of the village, where the uninjured men--about fifteen of them--were standing at arms, just as they saw thirty or so Redcoats coming down the hill. The Doctor made is way to the front, calmly raised his screwdriver and, just as they approached, yelled “STOP!” in his most commanding voice. To no one but Henry and his men’s surprise, they actually complied.

“I thought he said he wasn’t armed,” whispered Jamie.

“It’s just the sonic screwdriver,” said Rory. “He always uses this bluff.”

“THAT’S the sonic screwdriver?!” said Jamie in surprise.

“Yeah,” said Amy. “Didn’t he have it when you were with him?”

“Yeah, but it didn’t look like that.”

The Redcoats were lined up behind their leader, rifles raised. The leader stood in front of the doctor and aimed his pistol.

“Now,” said the Doctor. “You’re going to want to think very carefully about your answer to this question. Who are you and why have you come?”

“I am Leftenant Jacob Smythe, and I am here to finish off these Jacobite scum. You, sir, will stand aside unless you want to be hung as a traitor to your king.”

“Smythe,” said the Doctor. “I knew a woman called Smythe—much nicer than you. We both always wondered why her ancestors felt the need to posh up the name. Why do you think, Leftenant Smith?”

“It’s Smythe.” His hand tightened on his pistol.

The Doctor just smiled. “Let me hazard a guess as to why you’re really here, Leftenant Smith. After the battle, you and your men here got inebriated and thought, ‘You know what? Why did we even let them go? I bet good King George would be glad to see them completely exterminated. If I went and wiped them out, really finished them off properly, tied up all the loose ends, I bet Prince William would give me a nice promotion. Might even be knighted.’ Is that what you thought?”

Leftenant Smythe smiled snidely. “I think not of myself,” he said without a drop of sincerity. “Only of the needs of my country and my King. So long as a single Jacobite lives, the revolutionaries will just keep coming and the war will never end.”

“These people aren’t a threat to you. You know that. Most of the people in this village are injured. Many will die from their wounds.”

“Then I am only putting them out of their misery.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “It’s like talking to a brick wall!” he activated his screwdriver and all of the rifles in the first row backfired.

“It didn’t used to do that either!” said Jamie.

“What did it do?” asked Amy.

“Drive screws.”

“Run!” the Doctor shouted. He herded Jamie, Amy and Rory in the other direction, but Jamie stopped him.

“Doctor, I can’t just run. These are my people. I have to defend them.”

The Doctor stopped. “Amy, Rory, go on ahead to the barn.” Reluctantly, they complied. “Jamie, you don’t have to kill to defend your people. I thought you learned that with me.”

“I killed many a man in the battle,” said Jamie solemnly.

“How many?”

“Dunno. Didn’t really count.”

“Yes you did,” said the Doctor certainly. “Yes you did, Jamie. I know because I’ve killed millions of people, whole planets, and I counted every single one. How many lives have you taken, Jamie?”

Jamie stared at the Doctor for a moment, overcome with different kinds of grief, over the lives he’d taken, and over the thought that this man he so admired had killed so many. “Twenty-three,” he answered. “I’ll never forget that number as long as I live.”

“And how would you feel if it was thirty-three?”

“But Doctor, they’re dying!” he moved towards the battle that had already begun, but the Doctor held him back.

“Jamie!” he gripped his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “I lost you once. I am NOT losing you again!” he grabbed Jamie’s hand and called back to the fighting men. “Fall back! Fall back!” and he ran for the barn. A few of the men listened, but most kept fighting.


	3. Chapter 3

"That should do it," said Rory as he finished changing the bandages on one of the wounded. He got up and went over to Amy who was standing watch at the entrance. "I don't think he's gonna make it."

"I don't think most of them are," she said sadly as she looked around.

"So, this friend of the Doctor's; What do you think?"

"He seems like a nice enough bloke."

"Did they seem..." Rory wasn't quite sure how to put it.

"What?"

"A bit... intimate?"

"There does seem to be some history there. That doesn't bother you does it?"

"No, of course not, it's just... he's married to our daughter."

"I don't think he would leave River. I think he just has some things to work out with Jamie."

"Yeah, maybe. I never did give him the 'If you hurt her I'll kill you' speech," he said half-joking.

Amy laughed, then she saw the Doctor running up the path with Jamie, Henry, and two other men.

"Shut the doors! Shut the doors!" shouted the Doctor as he ran in. They all heaved the barn doors closed and lay the plank over them. The Doctor let out a great sigh of relief, leaning back against them. "That should hold them off a bit when they get here."

“Where are the rest of the men?” asked Rory.

The Doctor was somber for a moment and finally said, “Being stupidly brave. Did everyone make it here alright?”

“A couple ripped stitches in the rush,” said Rory, “but I patched them up.”

The Doctor patted Rory on the shoulder with a smile. “The consummate nurse. Good man.”

“What’s the plan when they get here?” asked Amy.

“Hadn’t thought that far ahead,” the Doctor replied.

“Should’ve known better than to ask.” Amy was well aware he was mostly the think on your feet type.

“Alright,” said the Doctor, making it up as he went along, “Rory, make sure the wounded are comfortable. Amy, grab a weapon and stand ready at the doors.”

“I thought you didn’t like weapons,” she said slyly, knowing full well he never says anything when River brandishes a gun.

“Well, I didn’t say use it,” he said obviously, though he fully expected her to. She was her daughter's mother after all.

“Alright!” Amy turned to the unwounded women in the barn. “Everyone grab a rifle or a pistol.”

“The women shouldn’t be fighting,” said one of the men that ran in with the Doctor and Jamie.

“Says you!” said Amy. She passed out guns to each of the women. “There’s enough of us here to guard every patient.”

She handed Rory a sword. “Why does everyone else get a gun and I get a melee weapon?”

“Because you know how to use a sword better than anyone else here, Rory the Roman. Besides, it turns me on.”

“Well, then. Sword it is.” He smiled.

“Jamie and I will stand lookout from the roof hatch in the hayloft,” said the Doctor. Jamie grabbed a rifle. “Only warning shots if you can help it, Jamie.”

“Ugh, you are so inconsistent,” Amy groaned.

The Doctor couldn’t argue with that, so he didn’t. He just headed to the loft with Jamie.

 

From the lookout point the Doctor and Jamie could just barely see the skirmish on the edge of the village. The Doctor smiled. “Amazing that so few men could hold them off that long.”

Jamie hummed in response.

“Is something wrong, Jamie?”

“How long has it been?” he asked.

“A very long time,” said the Doctor sadly.

“Why didn’t you come back for me?” he was holding back outrage. “The high council didn’t kill you obviously, maybe they regenerated you… Did they imprison you? Is that why you didn’t come for so long?”

“It was yesterday for you.”

“Yeah, but not for you!” he wiped back a stray tear. “Even if they did imprison you you’ve obviously been out long enough to get new companions.”

“Are you jealous of-”

“Of course not! It’s the _time_ , Doctor. They didn’t even allow me to remember you, and it may have been yesterday for me, but it seems like it’s been so long for you. So long and you never came back to right that wrong!”

The Doctor looked sadly at Jamie. It was the same he'd heard from Sarah-Jane, the same from Jo. The same as Rose had feared would happen to her. “When they sent you back,” he started, “I knew they were sending you back to Culloden. To the battle. So few on your side survived that battle and even after they slaughtered you there, the English came back and picked off defenseless villages for no reason, just like what’s happening right now. So, I was almost certain that the Time Lords were sending you back to your death. They left me stranded on Earth in the 1970s without a working TARDIS, so I couldn’t go back to save you. When I got the TARDIS working again, I thought about it, but the chances were so slim that you were still alive. If you weren’t and I came back to find you dead, I wouldn’t have been able to take it. If you were, you wouldn’t remember me and you move on to live a happy, safe life. It was better to leave well enough alone. I'd rather have you live on in my mind, young and so alive forever, than find your body bloody in a feild.”

Jamie took a moment to take this in. “So,” he said as he lined up his rifle over the lookout again. “What you’re saying is, you’re a coward.” He wasn’t looking at the Doctor, but he had a wry, teasing smile.

The Doctor chuckled, a little of his self-hatred rising to the surface. “Yup. Always have been.”

After a moment Jamie added, still not looking at him, “I loved you, you know.”

It hit the Doctor like a ten ton weight. He was too scared to say it to Rose. He hadn’t said it to River yet, because every time he tried, he thought of the Library. He had to take this chance and he had to do it now. He’d been a coward and Jamie had called him on it. No more. “I loved you too,” he choked out. “Still do.”

That made Jamie look at him again. They held each other’s gaze until they heard the sound of the Redcoats coming up the hill.

“We’ve got company,” said the Doctor, a bit relieved for a change of subject. Okay, maybe still a bit of a coward.


	4. Chapter 4

“Come out, cowards, and face your death!” shouted Leftenant Smythe as he and what was left of his men arrived at the barn.

“Cowards?” the Doctor called down. “Who’s cowering? This is strategy!”

“So is this.” Smythe nodded to some hay bales on the side of the barn and his men went to gather kindling.

The Doctor ignored this. “I’m only counting ten men there, Smith. You had thirty against thirteen and they whittled you down to ten?”

“They were slaughtered for their troubles,” he sneered.

“Aye, but they took you down with them!” said Jamie proudly. “Can you not just admit that the English don’t know how to fight and go home with what’s left of your dignity?”

“We’ll see how well you swine fight when you’re burning.” said Smythe as the men piled kindling at each corner of the barn. They lit it and lined up at the entrance. “You have a choice, Doctor. Burn to death slowly in your hideaway or come out and we’ll grant you the mercy of a quick bullet.”

“I think you’re too narrow minded to see the other options here,” said the Doctor.

“Options?” Smythe barked. “Escape is impossible you fool!”

“See, now there’s a word I don’t believe in.” The Doctor and Jamie climbed down from the loft as the smoke started to enter the barn.

“What do we do, Doctor?” asked Amy.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.” he said. Then he added, “Really this time. I just need time to prepare. Amy, send the women to the windows, but give me your TARDIS key first.”

“What are you gonna do?” she asked as she handed it to him.

“I’m going to call the TARDIS. Rory, your key too.”

Rory handed him his key. “How?”

“Normally I can’t do this unless there’s a major time anomaly, but with enough keys tuned to the TARDIS’s frequency I should be able to summon her here.” He put his key, Rory’s and Amy’s together and pulled a rubber band from his pocket to bind them together. He soniced them and they began to glow and pulse.

As the Doctor went to stand in the middle of the barn Amy rallied the women. “Alright, ladies, this is it! Un-shutter the windows at the front and give them hell!”

Crouching for cover, the women aimed their guns out the windows at the redcoats and began firing. Amy handed the women packets of gunpowder and bullets so they could reload.

The redcoats began to fall. Not having cover like the women they were vulnerable when they reloaded.

“It’s not working!” shouted the Doctor. “The signal’s not strong enough!”

“Oh!” Jamie cried realizing something. He reached into his sporran and pulled out an old TARDIS key. “Will this help?”

“You still have it,” said the Doctor amazed.

“Didn’t know what it was when I couldn’t remember you, but I knew it was important.”

The Doctor smiled wide and kissed Jamie quickly on the mouth. He took the key and bound it to the others. Slowly, the sound of the TARDIS began to fill the room. Jamie looked around as the interior of the TARDIS began to materialize around him and the Doctor. When it was finished Jamie couldn’t believe his eyes. “It looks all different!”

“I’ll give you the tour later, right now we have to get everyone inside.” The Doctor opened the doors and rushed out “Amy, Rory, everyone. Get the injured inside we have to go!”

The flames were getting bigger and the smoke was filling the barn. The women came away from the windows with Rory and Amy and began carrying the injured into the TARDIS. Some nearly dropped them when they saw the interior, but pushed aside their amazement out of panic.

“NOOOO!” Smythe, the only one of his troops left alive, had bounded in through a window, in a crazed rage. Being among the flames made him look even more mad, as if his hatred had taken form around him. He charged at the TARDIS and the people not yet in it, but Rory still had his sword ready and rushed to parry. Smyth was stunned for a moment, as if still reaching obstacles at this point was unthinkable. “Don’t be stupid, boy. You don’t look like a soldier to me.”

“I may be out of uniform,” said Rory and he swiped expertly at Smythe, blade just barely blocked in time. “But I’m still a soldier.” He ducked, swung around in back of Smythe and brought his sword down as Smyth rolled out of the way by just a hair. “Centurion, actually,” Rory continued as Smythe stood and the sword fight began in earnest. “And I didn’t survive the fall of Rome by just sitting around.” He said as he continued to fight. Smythe was just barely keeping up with him. “Nor any of the many wars Britain has seen since then. I survived by fighting. I reckon I’ve seen far more action than you ever will,” He knocked the sword out of Smythe’s hand and Smythe fell to his knees, the tip of Rory’s blade at his throat.

“In god’s name,” Smythe gasped. “What army did you fight for?”

“I fought for my wife.” said Rory proudly.

“Rory.” The Doctor came over. “Everyone’s inside.” He laid his hand on the one holding the sword. “You can let him go.”

“I know,” said Rory lowering his weapon. “I wasn’t gonna kill him.”

The Doctor smiled. He should have known. Rory was better than that. They entered the TARDIS, leaving Leftenant Smythe to escape the flames on his own.

 

The TARDIS materialized back in the village and everyone helped the injured outside.

“That’s a mighty strange box you’ve got there, Doctor,” said Henry in awe. “How can such a thing be?”

“Oh, that would take time to explain. Just accept that it is.”

“Well, whatever it is it saved our lives. Thank you, Doctor.”

They shook hands and Henry left to attend to his people.

“What happens now, Doctor?” asked Jamie.

“That’s up to you,” said the Doctor. “Do you want to say here, or, maybe…come with me?”

“Travel with you again? In the TARDIS?”

“If you want.” The Doctor dared to hope.

“Aye, I’d love that!” Jamie hugged him in that completely encompassing way only Jamie could and the Doctor laughed.

“But what about River?” Rory asked, seeming as if he wondered if he should ask it at all.

“What about her?” asked the Doctor.

“We’re not blind, Doctor,” said Amy. “We can see there’s something more than friendship here. River’s your wife and our daughter.”

“And I love her very much,” said the Doctor. “But our marriage is a little more open than we originally let on. I mean, you should see the things we get up to with Jack. Together _and_ separately.” Then he thought about it. “Actually, no. You’re her parents; you shouldn’t see that.”

“Yeah, I didn’t need to know that,” said Rory.

“So, she’s gonna be okay with this?” asked Amy.

“Yeah. I can divide my time. She’s taken far more advantage of the open-ness of our marriage than I have.”

“So you’re married now?” asked Jamie.

“Yes. Is that okay?” the Doctor asked tentatively.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, but I don’t think I’m comfortable with that.”

“Do you still want to travel with me?” The Doctor feared that he wouldn’t.

“Of course!” he said quickly. “But maybe, just as friends for now.”

“That’s fine. You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“You say that about everyone,” said Amy.

“Do I? Well it’s true every time I say it.”

“Now, Doctor,” said Amy. “About that spa…”

“Ah, yes, Astaria!” said the Doctor.

“Astaria?” asked Jamie.

“Oh, yes, Jamie. You’ll love it. I think we could all use the rest.”

They headed inside and set the course. As the engines whined and the TARDIS entered the vortex, Jamie felt like he was back where he’d always belonged.

\- THE END -


End file.
